Vienna’s Life Ball Once Again Benefits TREAT Asia

July 2006—The sponsors of Vienna’s famously colorful Life Ball, the largest AIDS charity event in Europe, partnered with TREAT Asia once again this year in a new arrangement that earmarked half the net proceeds from the event to support the network’s pediatric HIV/AIDS programs in Asia.

Sharon Stone.

Sharon Stone, chair of amfAR’s Campaign for AIDS Research, joined TREAT Asia director Kevin Frost at the fourteenth annual Life Ball on 20 May. Proceeds from the event will support TREAT Asia’s efforts to improve the quality of care for more than 135,000 HIV-infected children in Asia and the Pacific. The Austrian AIDS Life Association, the event’s sponsor, allocates half of the funds raised by the Life Ball to projects outside of Austria.

Last year, TREAT Asia received a contribution of €100,000 from the Life Ball organization. TREAT Asia also received the Life Ball Crystal of Hope, which was presented to Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman on behalf of TREAT Asia by actress Liza Minnelli.

Started in 1992, the Life Ball attracts around 40,000 revelers. This year the festivities were hosted by model Naomi Campbell and opened with a special fashion show presented by the Italian clothing label Diesel. The show was held in the square in front of Vienna’s historic City Hall on a stage in the shape of a huge red AIDS ribbon, and the Ball continued inside the building as the evening progressed. Interest in the Life Ball is such that the events were broadcast live on Austrian television.